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Comparison of The Parent Trap films
This is a list of differences between the live action Disney film, The Parent Trap (1961) and the remake from 1998. This is one case where the remake stands equal to the original. The characters from the remake all have similar personalities to their original counterpart, only the names change. The films are adapted from the German children’s novel "Lottie And Lisa", by Erich Kästner. The story involves two identical young girls, who meet for the first time at a summer camp and discover that they are actually twins, who were split up at birth when their parents divorced, which means that their parents have each been keeping the other’s existence a secret all this time. After they talk about how both only have one parent and come from single-parent households, (one of the girls lives with their mother and her sister lives with their father), the girls decide to switch places and try to keep up the facade of being the other twin for their little switcheroo to get their parents back together, so they can be a complete family unit. List of differences The 1961 film's opening credits are an animated stop motion puppetry sequence that summarizes the plot of the film but with different characters. The parents are named John and Marsha and the two daughters are not identical twins. The title song, performed by Annette Funicello and Tommy Sands, which was written by the Sherman brothers, plays over this visual. The 1998 version's live action opening credits shows the story of the parents’ wedding aboard the ocean liner, the Queen Elizabeth 2. According to the wedding certificate, the wedding takes place on January 8, 1986 between Nicholas Parker, a viticulturist, and Elizabeth James, an artist. The song playing throughout the opening is “L-O-V-E” by Nat King Cole. Each film starts out at an all-girls summer camp. The 1961 film takes place at Camp Inch and the 1998 version takes place at Camp Walden. Susan (1961) and Hallie (1998) are the twin who lives with the dad and are both from California. They love the outdoors, and horseback riding, and have shorter hair than their respective twin. Sharon (1961) and Annie (1998) are the twin who lives with the mom and they have a more sophisticated lifestyle. Sharon is from Boston whereas Annie is from London. The Arapahoe cabin is home to a different twin in each version; Sharon and Hallie. Susan and Sharon see each other for the first time in the food line when they are both reaching for a drink carton. Hallie and Annie see each other for the first time after fencing one another and then taking off their helmets. Susan/Hallie are immediately in denial about their similar looks and tease the other twin about her appearance. 1961: – Sharon flips Susan’s canoe into the lake. – Sharon cuts off the back of Susan’s dress at the camp dance. This leads to them getting into a physical fight which destroys the entire dance. 1998: – Hallie takes Annie’s clothes when Annie must jump into the lake naked after losing a poker game. – Annie puts all of Hallie’s cabin furniture on the roof. In both versions, Susan/Hallie covers Sharon/Annie’s cabin with string, honey, hay, and other messy material. In 1998 film, This leads to the camp counselors falling into the mess during a surprise inspection. The isolation cabin is called “Serendipity” in the 1961 version. In the 1961 film the campers are all whistling “Colonel Bogey March” as they march behind the girls as they hike up to their new residence, while in the 1998 version this same marching song is played but as part of the score. In both versions of the film, Susan/Hallie each have a photo of a celebrity that Sharon/Annie think is her boyfriend. In the 1961 film, it was Ricky Nelson and in the 1998 film it was Leonardo DiCaprio. The twins discover that they have the same birthday: Susan and Sharon will be turning 14 on November 12th, and Hallie and Annie will be turning 12 on October 11th. Hallie and Annie also discover that they both like Oreos with peanut butter. The girls make the connection that they are twins from photos of their parents. In the 1961 version only Sharon has a photo of their mother that Susan recognizes. In the 1998 version, both twins have a photo of their missing parent that the other recognizes. Hallie and Annie also have the same locket but with an “H” and an “A” on it. Susan/Hallie cut Sharon/Annie’s hair, Susan tells Sharon to start biting her nails, and Hallie pierces Annie’s ears. Susan/Hallie must find out how their parents met and what their first date was. Annie must try to find out why they split, but this task isn’t given to Sharon in the 1961 film. The 1961 version includes a grandmother but the 1998 version does not. Margaret (1961) is a busy socialite but gives up her schedule when Susan wants to talk about something important. They go for a walk and have a picnic and talk about the parents’ first date at the Italian restaurant Martinelli’s. Elizabeth (1998) is a wedding dress designer and brings Hallie with her to a photo shoot. Afterwards they talk about how the parents met on the QE2. In the original film, Susan and her father Mitchell live on a ranch in Carmel and in the 1998 version, Hallie and her father Nicholas live on a vineyard in Napa. While unpacking, Sharon/Annie catch the first glimpse of the dad’s new fiancée. Vicki (1961) is in the main courtyard and Meredith (1998) is out on the patio. Meredith talks to a Mr. Mosby on the phone which is a reference to the character of Rev. Dr. Mosby in the 1961 version. Vicki wants to send Sharon off to boarding school in Switzerland and Meredith wants to send Annie off to boarding school in Timbuctoo. Mitchell/Nicholas try to talk about Vicki/Meredith and Sharon/Annie pretend to think that they are going to adopt Vicki/Meredith. Sharon starts to play the piano to calm herself down and Annie starts to yell in French. In the 1961 version, Margaret and Susan go to Mitchell’s home. When they arrive, Mitchell and Vicki are going over their wedding plans with Vicki’s mother and Rev. Dr. Mosby. Margaret hides outside the house to peer into the window to see Vicki for the first time. Mitchell is so shocked to see her that he keeps tripping over furniture. In the 1998 version, Elizabeth, Hallie, and Martin the butler meet the rest of the characters at the Stafford Hotel in San Francisco. Stafford was the name of the boy whom Susan danced with in the original film. Here we meet Meredith’s parents and her mother is played by the same actress who played Vicki in the original film. Nicholas first sees Elizabeth in the elevator right as the doors are closing. The twins refer to Meredith as Cruella de Vil and the film 101 Dalmatians came out in the same year as the original Parent Trap. The original film has the date at a makeshift Martinelli’s on the terrace of Mitch’s home. The twins perform “Let’s Get Together”, which is actually the second time this song is heard in this movie. The first is during the camp dance as Annette Funicello is singing it on a record. The song is only heard once in the 1998 film when Hallie is singing it to herself while walking through the Stafford. The first date in the remake is aboard a rented yacht which the twins decorated to feel like the QE2. 1961: - A lizard is put on Vicki’s water bottle. – One girl stands on the other’s shoulders to make the lake look only knee deep. – The twins cover Vicki’s tent in string and honey, which attracts bear cubs. 1998: – The lizard is put on Meredith’s head, then it crawls onto her water bottle. – Rocks are put in Meredith’s bag to make it heavy. – The twins put Meredith’s air mattress onto the lake while she is asleep on it. In both versions: -Vicki/Meredith is hitting sticks together to scare off mountain lions. In the 1961 film, the twins let Vicky overhear this, in order to make her look silly. In the 1998 film, there isn’t a scene which shows the twins tricking her into doing this but it is a reference to the original film. In the 1961 film, Mitchell and Margaret have a romantic dinner just the two of them. The twins are asleep when Susan suddenly wakes up and shares her dream about how their parents got remarried. The next scene shows the wedding down at the lake by the ranch house with the twins joining in the wedding party as bridesmaids, while their grandparents, Louise and Charles, Verbena the housekeeper, and Hecky the ranch foreman, all look on BEAMING, looking proud as punch, as Mitchell and Margaret are reunited in holy matrimony. In the 1998 film, Nicholas and Elizabeth share a romantic moment looking at Nicholas’ wine collection but Elizabeth and Annie end up leaving and flying home to London. When they get home, Nicholas and Hallie are waiting for them, as they took the Concorde, and Nicholas and Elizabeth kiss. The film ends with their second wedding, shown through a series of photographs, on the Queen Elizabeth 2 with the twins joining in the wedding party as bridesmaids, while their grandfather Charles is also present, as Martin the butler proposes to Chessy the housekeeper, during the end credits. Category:Lists